what's wrong with this picture?

for julie jean...

Harper's Ferry, WV








Sharpsburg, MD

i might be sick.

I can't stop reading about Blagojevich. New reports almost make me giddy. My co-worker thinks it is because I am happy to be reading about drama that isn't in Detroit. I think she is right.

But I also think there is probably something sick about it.

oh, great...

This isn't what I want to hear!

sweet tea will never be as sweet.

I listen to NPR in the morning while getting ready for work. Every once in a while I will respond to something from a report byQuinn Klinefelter or Amy Miller but I usually just listen because I love Quinn Klinefelter's voice. Anyway, this morning someone, not sure who, reported that the Tigers acquired right handed pitcher Edwin Jackson from the Tampa Bay Rays. I didn't really think much of it because I don't know anything about Edwin Jackson. But then. Then I heard the radio voice say, "in exchange for outfielder Matt Joyce" and the room started to spin and I let out a scream... NOOOOOOooooooOOOOOOOOOoooooOOOO!

Not Sweet Tea!!

Not the man that rescued the kitten from the bullpen at Comerica Park in the pouring rain!!!

I think part of the reason I am feeling so sad to see Matt Joyce go is that he did a lot for the Tigers in 2008. There were a couple players who got called up from Toledo who really pulled through for the team.

Be well Matt Joyce. I know there are some fans in section 338 at Comerica Park that will always be cheering for Sweet Tea.

Now. About sweet tea, the beverage. I have only had sweet tea once. Julie and I got breakfast from a fabulous biscuit place in Durham, NC and we got sweet tea. I think it was a bad place to get sweet tea. It was waaaaaay too sweet and I couldn't drink much of it. I'll have to try it again sometime but I'm feeling like I'll have to wait until I'm in the south.

i am still alive!

When so much time goes by between posting, I feel like I should write something that will change the world forever. Like I've been taking this month off to solve the financial crisis. Or I've been preparing for my next career as Car Czar. Or I've been cleaning the house.

Truth is, I haven't been doing any of those things.

I won't tell you everything I have been doing because internet, I like you too much to do that to you.

Instead, I will tell you a little bit about what I've been up to:

The weekend before the election, Kevin (AKA Lee), and I went to Grand Rapids to see the Grand Rapids Griffins play the Milwaukee Admirals. They gave away Obama and McCain bobbleheads at the game. They had 1,000 of each and whichever ran out first was declared the winner. Obama won! The Griffins, on the other hand, lost, 5-4.


I took a picture of this player because I went Holt High School and our mascot was a ram.


This is a patriotic griffin (I think) wielding some sort of hot dog shooting weapon. I sure hope Obama doesn't try to take away his hot dog gun!


The weekend of Thanksgiving we had a diorama party. The themes were:
1. League of Democracies
2. Moments in Rock History

Amanda's bowling league of democracies:


Joel's moment in rock history:

Do you get it? He had to explain it to me. It's a good one!

Joel's other moment in rock history:

Is it true what they say or is it just a rumor? He didn't have to explain this one to me. If you want, I can explain it to you.

Kristin's moment in rock history:

I love it!

My league of demothcracies:

We were together this summer when someone had a run-in with a moth.

Let's see...

Looks like the Yankees are signing Carston Charles Sabathia to the tune of $161 million for seven years. I wish I could be good enough at a game to make that kind of money. I hope the hamburger doesn't miss the hot dog too much!

I thought I had a lot more to write tonight but instead I have to go make brownies for a work potluck.

vacation, part ii

I got to Julie's house around 5. She wasn't home from work yet so I waited outside and talked on the phone and tried to stay away from a teeny tiny blue lizard. It was kind of cute, yet really really creepy in that "I've never seen a teeny tiny blue lizard before" way. Was it supposed to be blue? Did it want to kill me? Could it kill me? I think the heat was getting to me.

You might not know this about me but I enjoy meat. Cow. Pig. Chicken. Turkey. I think that's about it. Julie had sent me information about The Q Shack and I felt it was very important to check it out. I mean, it is "BBQ, tender as a Mother's Love."TM. TM, people. TM. Check out the link and you'll see what I'm talkin' about. We went to The Q Shack and it was super yummy. I'm not a food critic so I don't have anything better to say than 'super yummy.'

Two of my favorite things at The Q Shack:
1. Shiner Bock beer. Until recently you couldn't buy this beer in Michigan. I had only had it once before, at Kevin's (aka Lee) party. He was kind enough to share his stash he had brought to Michigan from Texas. When I saw it at The Q Shack I was very excited! I took a phone photo of my beer to send to Kevin and then realized I didn't have his phone number. Doh! Anyway....
2. A dead armadillo statue clutching a beer bottle. Or is it a dead armadillo clutching a beer bottle statue? Either way, it's a dead armadillo clutching a beer bottle. More on that later...

After pigging out on BBQ, tender as a Mother's Love TM, we headed to Chapel Hill. I think. It was a wonderful area with a place called LocoPops. Since it was a hot and muggy evening, popsicles were perfect! I think we both had ginger strawberry lime pops. Or something like that. I can't remember now. I wish we could have gone back several times so I could have tried all the other flavors.


Julie said this is the Wendy's where John Edwards took his wife on their first date. We didn't eat there because I think this Wendy's might be bad luck. I don't ever want Julie to cheat on me.


Maybe someday there will be a part iii post. You might think you don't want a part iii post but trust me, the next day in North Carolina was amazing. Dead armadillos and other animals.

motivation?

I thought that if I titled my first post about vacation as part 1, I would get around to posting part 2, and maybe even part 3. Apparently that didn't work very well. Right now I have a few minutes of quiet time so I will work on part 2. Maybe posting this will motivate me to actually post something. Anything?

super power

I spend way too much time thinking about the age old question, "If you could have any super power, what would it be?" My answer to that question changes on a regular basis. During baseball season my super power would be the ability to correctly call pitches from anywhere in the ball park. That way, when the asshole sitting next to me in the nosebleed section past 3rd base screams at the ump that the ball was a strike or a ball, I can calmly explain that the umpire has the best vantage point to correctly call pitches, which is why the umpire is not sitting in the nosebleed section past 3rd base, and then I can also explain my super power and tell them whether the call was good or not and then shut them up for good.

Now that the Tigers have ended their, and for the most part, my, baseball season, I have a new answer.

Today I would be invisible. I want to be invisible for one reason. I want to eavesdrop on Biden's debate practice sessions with Jennifer Granholm. I think it would be absolutely hysterical to see Granholm attempt to channel Sarah Palin. I'm sure they are very serious about these preparations. I hope they are very serious about these preparations. At the same time, I think it would be really funny.

feeling nostalgic.

I am at work today trying to figure out how I can get home to watch the last Tigers game of the season. It is an important game. If we win, we will not end the season in the cellar of the Central division. It seems like just yesterday that I wrote this post...

Monday, October 16, 2006
Bless You Boys

In a strange twist of fate, Jesse and I ended up being at the ALCS game 4 with cousinSethy and his mom. Not only were we all at the game, they were in our section. We were able to talk the two guys sitting in front of Jesse and I into switching seats with cousinSethy and mamaBurger so they got to sit with us. Amazing how that all works out.

Yesterday I wrote the most amazing blog about this game. But then it disappeared. Damn you blogger!! So I'll try to recreate some of the amazingness but I'm sure I will disappoint you all.

Here is a photo of the field before the game started.

The Mosaic Youth Theatre of Detroit sang the National Anthem and it was absolutely beautiful. I do not especially enjoy our National Anthem but when they sang it, it brought tears to my eyes. I couldn't believe they were kids!

I don't know who came up with the "Who's Your Tiger?" marketing idea but they are an absolute genius. Before the game Jesse and I both chose Magglio Ordonez to be our Tiger. Apparently Jesse and I are also absolute geniuses.

But more on that in a second.

The game was fun to watch. Jesse and I sat next to a dude who used to play for the Toledo Mudhens (the Tigers Triple-A team) and he had also played for the Lansing Lugnuts. He was really nice and friendly and hot. He and his wife hadn't been able to get tickets next to each other so she was sitting somewhere else in our section. Eventually she came and joined us since we were way more fun than whoever she was sitting next to.

As for the actual baseball, the Detroit pitching wasn't as lights-out as it has been in the previous post season games. Bonderman did just fine but we were really concerned when Grilli came in and threw 13 balls in a row to load the bases with walks. Luckily Wilfredo Ledezma came in to save the day. Oakland had to bring in their closer, Huston Street, in the 7th inning. We felt like it was the right move for Macha to make since this game had such high stakes. However, by the bottom of the 9th, it was clear Street stayed in too long. Craig Monroe and Placido Polanco managed to get on base. With 2 outs, Magglio Ordonez came up to the plate. When he hit the ball it felt like it was moving in slow motion. The crowd was silent as I watched the ball sail out of left field for the second time that night. I'm not sure if it was really silent or if I just couldn't hear anything. Then I went crazy. The guy sitting in front of us turned to hug me and accidentally (?) groped my boobies (although with all the layers I was wearing he didn't get much of a feel) and I didn't care. I hugged him. I hugged his wife. I hugged my husband. I hugged cousinSethy and mamaBurger. I high-fived hands that were coming from everywhere. I fought back tears but when I saw the tears in cousinSethy's and mamaBurger's eyes I didn't care to fight them back anymore. We screamed we jumped up and down. We believed.


Who's your tiger? Magglio was my Tiger. I had never seen a walk-off homerun live before. Earlier in the season I had tickets to a game where Carlos Guillen had hit one. I didn't go to that game because I was sick. I wasn't sick on Saturday night.

Here is the field during the presentation of the American League Championship trophy and the MVP award to Placido Polanco. Speaking of Placido, have you ever seen such sheer joy in a player as he ran around those bases? Watching highlights of him running and jumping and cheering while wearing that stupid headwarmer thing brings tears to my eyes almost every time.


After the game we walked around downtown for a little while just celebrating and high-fiveing everyone in sight. It was a peaceful celebration with everyone focusing on this amazing team.

Seth called Sunday afternoon and all he said was, "we were there."

Yes, we were.

I have a feeling there won't be any celebration if the Tigers win today. That's okay. There's always next year.

vacation, part i.

The first part of my vacation was spent on the road. I left after work and drove to Charleston, West Virginia. People say the drive is beautiful but I wouldn't know because it rained the entire way. I decided it was more important to keep my eye on the road than on the mountains. Solo road trips aren't so much fun.

For some reason I dig cemeteries, especially old cemeteries. I went to the drug store the night I got to Charleston and when I walked out of the store I saw a cemetery on the side of a mountain. It was probably a hill but it looked like a mountain to me. The next morning I got up and made my way to Spring Hill Cemetery. I walked around for a little while. It was really hilly and I am really out of shape. But I enjoyed the quiet and even saw a deer. I took a photo of the deer but it kind of sucks so I'm not going to show it to you.



I found the Confederate Soldier section...


I saw this stone and thought it read "Leafer" and was a little creeped out. Once I got closer I realized it read "Leaper" and the social worker in me immediately thought, "suicide."


I left the cemetery and went down to the Capitol building. I walked around for a while and took photos of statues.

This is the West Virginia Coal Miner statue...


And the Capitol building...


Creepy fruit or something on a tree...


It wasn't a very nice day in West Virginia. The rain had stopped for a little while but as I was walking around the Capitol, it started to drizzle again. It was time for me to make my way toward Durham, North Carolina.

i hate packing.

Instead I will post a photo of Willie Horton.



And yes. I am aware that only sad, old, creepy people post photos of their cats on their blogs.

So I will also post this photo of death and destruction at Tiger Stadium, taken through a hole in the fence.



Now I have to go decide which shoes to pack. Looks like I might be doing a fair amount of walking in Durham.

on the road again...

Tomorrow I leave for North Carolina! First to visit Julie for a couple days and then to the Outer Banks for Cousin Cori's and Brent's wedding. I am excited to get out of town for a few days. I am not so excited to drive a million hours all by myself. Jesse will be flying in on Saturday for the wedding weekend. He couldn't get out of law school orientation so doesn't get to see Julie. Law school better be worth it!

The last time I visited Julie I showed up at her doorstep unannounced. She lived in Massachusetts and I lived in Michigan. Even though it was very rude of me, she was the most gracious host and I had a blast. Ah, the memories...









I'll be back in Michigan on Tuesday. Just in time for the fun to begin!

greenfield village

Old-timey stroll through the village...


Old-timey printing shop...


Sheep!!!


Skinny...


Drying flowers on old-timey wire hangers...

anniversary surprise

My original plan was to surprise Jesse and take him to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland for our anniversary. Things changed when we got word that his mom's husband, Peter, was really sick and in the hospital. We weren't sure if we were going to have to make an emergency trip to Maine so I decided to not book the hotel room. A couple days later we were so happy to find out that Peter was getting better and it looked like he would be out of the hospital in a few days. I had already told Jesse about my original plan so had to come up with something else.

Then it hit me.

There is nothing more romantic than blueberry picking! Joanna had mentioned she would be at her parents' farm that weekend so I decided to surprise Jesse with a trip to northern Michigan. I wouldn't tell him what I had planned but I did tell him it had something to do with our wedding. After all, Joanna was at our wedding and she brought blueberries for us all the way to Vegas! As a matter of fact, after Jesse and I finally got checked into our hotel in Vegas, we went down to the lobby to meet everyone for dinner and ran into Joanna, John, Erica and Fitz right outside the elevator. After hello hugs, Joanna handed me a bag of blueberries! As we walked around Mandalay Bay trying to figure out where to eat, I ate yummy Michigan blueberries...

Mmmm.... blueberries....


There is also nothing more romantic than peeing cows.


And baby chicks!


And chickens under a tractor...


Okay. So...for these city folk, farm life isn't exactly romantic. While Jesse was surprised when he realized we were going to the farm as we turned down the dirt road, I think he was a little disappointed. He did perk up a little bit when Joanna's dad asked us how Traverse City was, which happened to be the second part of the surprise that Jesse didn't know about yet.

After a fabulous afternoon with Joanna, her parents, Zander, Zoe, and Vienna, Jesse and I got back in the car and headed to Traverse City. We stayed at the Grand Traverse Resort because I couldn't find anything cheaper. Seriously. I spent hours online looking for something with a reasonable price but didn't find anything. Oh well. The second part that was like our wedding was the Turtle Creek Casino that is right up the road from the resort. We didn't stay very long and luckily came out ahead. That part wasn't like Vegas.

It was a short little vacation but a nice way to celebrate. Now I'm going to go eat some blueberries!

old-timey base ball.

Jesse and I went to Greenfield Village for some old-timey base ball. It was pretty fun watching a bunch of old dudes (I guess there were some young dudes too) play base ball (the old-timey name) with rules from 1867.

Old-timey relaxing...


Sweet old-timey hat. At first I thought she was an old-timey cheerleader but I don't think base ball has ever had cheerleaders, especially in 1867.


Old-timey at bat...


Old-timey stretching...

2 years ago.

Do you remember what you were doing two years ago today?

Some things I remember:

• Room service breakfast. Yum!
  
• Going to get my hair done at the salon in Mandalay Bay. My sister and my mom came with me even though that meant they would be really crunched for time. For some reason I didn't want to go alone. When I realized they would have to haul ass back to their hotel to change and get to the wedding chapel I told them I was fine going alone. They wouldn't hear it. They even stuck around to grab lunch with me after my hair appointment.
• Jesse went for a walk and returned to our room with beautiful earrings for me.
  
• Joel and Amanda coming to our room to wait for the limo to pick us up. Amanda ironed Jesse's shirt. It meant more to us than she could ever know. Seriously.
• Going to the hotel lobby to have a cigarette with Jesse before the limo showed up. I was super nervous but excited. It was nice to have a few moments alone with him.
  
• Riding in the limo to the wedding chapel. The driver made me get in last. Something about the bride not having to slide across the seats. It also meant I was sitting in the back. Trying not to puke from motion sickness.
  
• Arriving at the chapel and seeing a bunch of people waiting for us. It was overwhelming and amazing at the same time. They all came to Vegas for us.
  
• The chapel people running us through "rehearsal" but I wasn't paying attention because I had to pee. They told me I had to hurry.
• Peeing.
• Walking out of the bathroom and waiting to walk down the aisle. The hula girl turned around to say "Congratulations" and I almost screamed because she was very pale and scary.
• Walking down the aisle. Jesse had a look on his face that I misinterpreted as "holy shit what am I doing get me out of here!" I was sure he was about to bolt.
  
• Elvis talking. Blah Blah Blah.
• Fog machine scaring the shit out of me.
  
• Thinking it was strange that people in Michigan were watching on the internet.
• Something about hound dogs.
• Kiss.
• Dancing in the aisle.
• Thinking I just married the man of my dreams in front of my most important friends and family (those that weren't in Vegas got to watch online!). And Elvis. Can't forget Elvis.
  

Hey Jesse! I love you and am so happy to be your wife.

sleep is overrated.

After a long day at work, I just wanted to come home and go to bed. I guess I forgot to add "falling asleep" to my list of things to do.

Tonight I did make some plans for the weekend. I am surprising Jesse with a little anniversary getaway. It's going to be a blast. Let's hope I can keep it a secret.

Here are some photos to put you to sleep:

From our visit to the Hirshhorn in Washington, D.C...


Also from our visit to the Hirshhorn...


The Palace of Wonders in Washington, D.C...


Wedding day memories...